Oar-lock guard.



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

HENRY DITCHBURN, OF GRAVENHURST, CANADA.

OAR-LOCK GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,667, dated September 23, 1902.

Application filed March 26,1902. Serial No. 100.019. (No model.) i

To @ZZ whom it rita/,7; cm1/cern:

Be it known that I, HENRY DITCHBURN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Gravenhurst,countyofMuslroka, Province lof' Ontario, Canada, have invented eertain new and useful Improvements in Oar- Locl; Guards; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a collar attachmentadapted to be placed on the oars of row-boats to take the place of the ordinary oar-lock guard which is adapted to prevent the oar from sliding too far down through the rowlock and to hold it in its proper place thereon. The ordinary leather collar which is now in general use for this purpose is nailed around the oar, and so cuts up the wood at that point that the oar is rendered particularly weak where its strength is most wanted, so that it is especially liable to break at this point. Heretofore to overcome this defect iron collars have been used; but the noise occasioned by the oar-lock working against the metal was a great fault of this apparatus.

My improved collar is a combination of metal and leather secured together by a series of radially-directed screws, which are pointed at their ends and adapted to be forced into the exterior surface ofthe oar or of the leather shield carried thereby to a sufficient extent to hold the collar in place and yet not to injure the wood materially, and therefore to weaken the oar. When these set-screws are tightened up, they are caused to grip the guard rmly to the leather shield and yet not to injure the wood.

The essential features of my invention comprise improvements on the flanged metallic collar already in use and formed in two semicircular halves, which are pivoted together at one side and adapted to be clamped by suitable screw-lugs formed in the other, and my improvement lies in placing over the eX- terior and within the ange of this collar a double thickness of leather suflicient to ill out the flange and to project slightly beyond the outer face of the metallic collar, so as to form a noiseless bearing against the rev/lock.

` Around the periphery of the leather collar are placed radial screws, which project through apertures in the cylindrical portion of the metallic collar and are pointed at their extremities, so as to project into the surface of the oar or leather shield covering the same and hold the collar in place.

My invention further consists in the improved construction and combination of parts which are hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, Figure .1 is a side elevation olf an oar carrying my improved collar. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail fragmentary view ot' the cen- .tral portion of the oar, showing my guard and the leather shield thereon in central crosssection. Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the guard separated from the oar and from opposite sides thereof. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the metallic collar constituting a portion of my guard, the two halves being separated. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the screw connecting the two halves of the collar. Fig. 7 is a transverse section through. an oarloom of oval section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2, showing my guard adjusted thereto.

The same numerals of reference denote like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

7 designates an oar of any desirable form having a blade 8 and a handle 9, as usual, and the central portion of the oar-loom is covered, as is customary, with a leather shield 10, which extends a certain distance along the loom, so as to form a bearing against the rowlock. In place of havinga leather collar xed and nailed to the oar-loom at this point I provide my adjustable oar lock guard, which is designated as a whole by the numeral 11. This guard is made up of a twopart flanged collar l2, which is of rectangular cross-section, having a cylindrical flange 13 and a radial flange 14, and a leather collar 15, which is made up of two or more strips 16 .of heavy leather wound around the cylindrical flange 13 of the collar 12 and seated between the two ianges thereof, so as to lill out the space embraced by them, and this leather collar 15 is divided at a point 17 of the circumference which is opposite the upper junction-point of the two metallic collarhalves, at which point the two halves are separated when the collar is removed from the oar. The metallic halves of the collar 12 are designated 18 and 19, respectively, and are formed differently, as shown in Fig. 5, the half 18 being provided at its lower end with a projecting ear 20, having a hole 21 therethrough into which projects the pivot-pin 22, carried by an ear 23, projecting from the lower end of the other bearing-half 19, formed integrally therewith or riveted thereto by means of rivets 24. The ear 23 is adapted to overlap the ear 20, as shown in Fig. 3, and thus pivot the two halves 18 and 19 together when theleather is in place on the collar, while the upper ends of the two halves 1S and 19 are connected by a screw 25, which passes through an eye 26 in a lateral lug 27 on the collar-half 18 and is seated in a screw-threaded socket 28, formed in a lug 29, carried by the opposite half 19 of the collar, the two halves being thus adapted to be drawn together by the screw 25, as shown in Fig. 3.

Through the center and around the circumference ofthe cylindrical iiange 13 of the collar 12 are a series of equidistant screwthreaded holes 30, into which are threaded a set of radial screws 31, which are adapted to pass through suitably-positioned radial holes formed through the leather strips 16 and to be secured in said screw-'threaded holes 30 so as to project therethrough, the inner eX- tremity ofthe screws 31 being conically pointed, as shown at 32, and when the leather is screwed .up to place the screws 31 will project sufficiently through the inner side of the collar 12 to enable them to be pressed into the leather shield 10 in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

Vhen it is desired to adjust the oar-loc guard upon the oar, the screw 25 is first removed from its socket and the two halves of the collar 12 are opened around their pivot 22 suiiiciently to allow the guard to be slipped over the oar and into the proper position, the leather collar 15 being sufficiently pliable to permit this to be done, and when the guard is adjusted to the proper position for the rowlock the screw 25 is reinserted in its socket and screwed up tight, whereupon the points of the screws 31 will be depressed into the leather shield 10 and the oar-lock guard clamped securely in place.

In the case of oars of oval section, as frequently happens with oars which have been worn to a certain extent in the rowlocks, the screws 31 will be made of unequal lengththat is to say, those screws which are opposite the thinner or worn part of the oar will be somewhat longer than the othersso as to project a greater distance through the inner surface of the collar 12, and thus they may be caused to bite into the surface of the oar all around, no matter of what section it may be, and to securely clamp the guard thereon without deforming its shape. This application is shown in Fig. 7.

From the above description it will be observed that my improved oar-lock guard is not simply completely adjustable as well as very simple and easy to manufacture, but in securing it to the oar it does not injure the latter in any way and yet is enabled to be clamped upon the oar without possibility of accidental displacement.

My improved oar-lock guard has the advantages of a comparative lightness and neatness not yet equaled by any other, so far as I am able to ascertain. The metallic collar 12 can be made for general use in malleable iron; but a nicely-finished article can be made also in white metal, a device which greatly improves the appearance of a wellnished pair of oars.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise form shown, for many of the details may be changed in form or position without aecting the operativeness or utility of my invention, and I therefore reserve the right to make such modications as are included in the scope of the following claims. u

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An oar-lock guard comprising a removable collar having points projecting radially inward therefrom and adapted to be adjustably clamped over the loom of the oar.

2. An oar-lock guard comprising an adjusti able metallic collar adapted to be clamped over the loom of the oar, and a leather wear-collar secured to said metallic collar to take the wear of the rowlocks.

3. An oar-lock guard comprising a separable metallic collar adapted to be adj ustably clamped upon the loom of the oar, a leather collar secured to said metallic collar, and a series of in wardly-projecting points adapted to bite into theoar and hold the guard in position thereon.

4. An oar-lock guard comprising a anged separable metallic collar having the two parts thereof hinged at one side and adapted to be adjustably clamped together at the other side, whereby to clamp said collar in position on the oar-loom, and a leather collar secured to said metallic collar.

5. .An oar-lock guard comprising a metallic flanged collar made in two semicircular halves pivoted together at one end and adapted to be adj ustably secured to each other at the other, a circular divided leather collar surrounding said metallic collar and having the point of division thereof opposite the free ends of the halves of said metallic collar, and a series of points projecting inwardly from the interior of said metallic collar, said points being adapted to bite into the oar-loom or into the leather shield carried thereon and hold the guard in place.

6. An oar-lock guard comprising a hanged metallic collar made in two semicircular halves pivoted together at their ends and IIO adapted to be adjustably clamped together at their other ends, a leather collar surrounding said metallic collar and lying against the flanges thereof, and a series of radial screws fitted in sockets formed in the cylindrical ilange of said metallic collar and passing through apertures in said leather collar to secure the latter to the metallic collar.

7. An oar-lock guard comprising a flanged metallic, collar made in two semicircular halves pivoted together at their ends and adapted to be adjustably lclamped together at their other ends, a leather collar surrounding said metallic collar and lying against the flanges thereof, and a series of radial screws fitted in sockets formed in the cylindrical ilange of said metallic collar and passing through apertures in said leather collar to secure the latter to the metallic collar, said screws having pointed extremities adapted to project inwardly from the inner surface of said metallic collar so as to bite into the oarloom and hold the guard in place when the two halves of the collar are clamped together.

8. An oarlock guard comprising a metallic collar having a cylindrical and a radial flange and formed in two semicircular halves pivoted together at their ends, and having clamping means formed at their other ends, a leather collar surrounding said cylindrical flange and seated against said radial flange, and a series of radial screws fitted in threaded apertures in said cylindrical flange and passing' through said leather collar to hold the same in position on the cylindrical flange, said screws having pointed extremities adapted to project inwardly from the inner surface of said cylindrical flange and to bite into the oar-loom to hold the guard in place thereon.

9. An oar-lock guard comprising a metallic collar formed in two semicircular halves,eacl1 having a cylindrical and a radial flange and a pair of pivot-ears connected by a pivot-stud, a pair of clamping-lugs formed at the opposite ends of said collar-halves, a clampingscrew turningin a socket in one of said lugs and in an aperture in the other, whereby to adjustably clamp the halves together, a circular leather collar surrounding said cylindrical flange and projecting slightly thereover and seated against the inner face of said radial flange, said collar being divided at a point opposite the clamped ends of said collar-halves, and a series of radial screws fitted in threaded apertures around the periphery of said cylindrical flange and projecting through said leather collar, whereby to secure the same to said metallic collar; said screws having conically-pointed ends adapted to bite into the oar-loom or a leather shield carried thereover and to clamp the guard in place thereon.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY DITCHBURN.

Witnesses:

MANLEY CRYDERMAN, GEO. HOUEN. 

